


Vincent

by Ilovegrapes



Category: Men's Football RPF
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Developing Relationship, Friends to Lovers, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-12
Updated: 2020-12-12
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:14:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27914380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ilovegrapes/pseuds/Ilovegrapes
Summary: "Take a deep breath"
Relationships: Dele Alli/Eric Dier
Comments: 6
Kudos: 33
Collections: Deledier Fic Exchange 2020





	Vincent

**Author's Note:**

  * For [alltimeglow](https://archiveofourown.org/users/alltimeglow/gifts).



> Prompt: 'Take a deep breath' (no smut)

”This is unfair,” Dele huffed, slumping back against Eric’s way too comfortable couch. They were a bottle of wine down, already into their second game of chess.

”What is?”

”This” Dele pointed to the chess board, annoyed that he was losing again. ”You’re much better than me. You know like 15 different moves I’ve never even heard of” He pouted. He hated losing, especially to Eric. He was fully aware that chess wasn’t really his strong suit, but he'd never turn down a game.

”We don’t have to keep playing”

”You’ve already won”

”We’ll count it as a draw” Eric said like it wasn’t a big deal. Dele looked back at him confused, an eyebrow raised in suspicion at the suggestion. He thought about continuing just to prove a point, but he also knew that if he did he’d lose and he just couldn’t be bothered. So, they shook hands on it and it made him feel the tiniest bit better about the humiliating defeat he would’ve suffered.

”Why are you being so weird?” He asked as he slouched back on the couch.

”I’m not being weird”

”You are, you’re being...nice” 

“Nice? You think I’m being weird because I’m nice?”

“Yeah, there’s something different about you today”

“I’m just enjoying your company that’s all”

Dele felt his chest tighten, not having expected Dier’s honesty. It had been a while since they did this, since they hung out just the two of them. It felt like back in the day when he’d practically lived at Eric’s place. His day would consist of going to training and hanging out with Eric, that was it, they were inseparable. 

He didn’t know what changed exactly, their hangouts became less frequent over time and Eric stopped inviting him over. Not that he had previously been inviting him, Dele had just started to become more aware of this thing between them, aware of the change. So it all stopped, they were still close, just not as close as they had been. He wasn’t proud to admit it, that fear had separated them but it was the truth.

“You are?”

  
“Yeah, I’ve really missed this” 

“I’ve missed this too” Dele said, eyes meeting Eric’s. His eyes burning into him, fingers playing with one of the chess pieces in a very distracting way. There had been a lot of things that had gone unsaid between them. A lot of if’s, but’s and maybe’s. But they both knew. They both knew.

”Stop looking at me like that”

”Like what?”

_ Like you want to kiss me. _

”Nothing”

Dele felt the heat rise in his cheeks.  _ He was actually blushing. _ The burning gaze of the defender made him shift in his seat. He looked around the room, begging for the bubbling feeling in the pit of his stomach to settle. His eyes spotted the framed picture in the other man’s bookshelf and he couldn’t help but smile. 

Dele walked towards the book shelf, fingers grazing a picture frame. He remembered the moment that goal had gone in, how the crowds had roared and how he’d just ran onto the pitch, the shooting pain from his hamstring forgotten. How he’d dug Eric up from the bottom of the pile. How they’d stayed up all night watching footage from the England fans all over the country. He smiled to himself at the memory, a part of him still sad they hadn’t been able to reach the finish line, giving them both the one thing they’d fought so hard for. That maybe if they had won, maybe things would’ve been different.

He let his fingers wander over to Eric’s vinyl collection, pulling out an old record. The title read Don McLean - American Pie, the cover photo of a man sitting at a table giving a thumbs up, his thumb painted as the American flag. He’d never seen it before, the album, he’d never heard of it. Eric’s taste in music had always been a bit more sophisticated that his own, although Dele prided himself in having influenced Eric’s taste quite a lot, it was something he’d always envied the other man for.

Eric rose to his feet behind him and he heard his footsteps come closer and closer into his space. He felt his heartbeat speed up, holding his breath at the other man’s presence. Eric stopped, Dele’s back brushing against the slightly taller man’s chest. He reached for the vinyl in Dele’s hands. Their fingertips brushed as the defender moved to take it.

“It’s one of my favorites.” He said, voice so low it sent a tingle down his spine. Dele didn’t have to see his face to know he had one of those smiles that he got when he was reminiscing. 

Just as quickly as he came into Dele’s space he was gone. He moved over to the record player and took the vinyl out. The way he moved was mesmerizing, just the confidence he exuded...was something else. The way he’d look him straight in the eye, refusing to break eye contact with him, forcing Dele to look away first almost every single time without fail. Dele couldn’t help but stare at his arms as he pressed play. His strong biceps flexed ever so slightly as he moved to put the record on.

_ Starry, starry night _

_ Paint your palette blue and grey _

_ Look out on a summer's day _

_ With eyes that know the darkness in my soul _

_ Shadows on the hills _

_ Catch the breeze and the winter chills _

_ In colors on the snowy linen land _

The song started, a slow tune filled the empty space in the room with it’s melody. He watched Eric in front of him, swaying his hips to the song. Dele couldn’t help but smile as he rolled his eyes. He was really trying his best not to give away how he really felt, how his chest tightened and how he felt warm. He’d always been a god awful dancer, yet Dele couldn’t help but love watching him try either way. He looked on as the wine drunk man swayed closer to him, stopping and holding one hand out for him to take.

“What are you doing?” He giggled.

“Take my hand,” Eric said, his smile contagious. “I’m going to teach you how to dance”

”You’re going to teach  _ me _ ?”

”Yes Delboy, I am. And I’ll have you know that I was the best slow dancer at my school. I had girls lined up waiting to dance with me”

”That’s definitely not true” Dele said, taking the taller man’s hand, hoping he wouldn’t notice how sweaty they were.

_ Starry, starry night _

_ Flaming flowers that brightly blaze _

_ Swirling clouds in violet haze _

_ Reflect in Vincent's eyes of china blue _

_ Colors changing hue _

Eric rested his hand on Dele’s waist and took his other hand in his own. He pressed him closer, a firm hand on his waist. He hoped Eric hadn’t noticed the way his heart was beating out of his chest. He accidentally stepped on Eric’s toes and stopped in his tracks.

He let out a nervous laugh, “This is ridiculous.”

“Yeah, you’ve got two left feet” Eric smiled.

“Thank god I’m not a dancer then” Dele tried with the self deprecating humour but the taller man was having none of it, instead he put his hands on Dele’s waist again.

“Here” Eric guided Dele’s hands to his shoulders and suddenly they were very close. “Take a deep breath...Follow my lead”

_ For they could not love you _

But still your love was true

_ And when no hope was left in sight _

_ On that starry, starry night _

_ You took your life, as lovers often do _

Dele nodded, his hands placed on Eric’s shoulders, Eric’s on Dele’s waist. He hated how good Eric was at it and how incredibly bad he was. He blamed the wine this time.

_ But I could have told you, Vincent _

_ This world was never meant for one _

_ As beautiful as you _

“They played this song at my sisters wedding, it’s the first time a song has ever made me cry” Eric smiled, recounting the memory. “I don’t know if it was the song or watching my sister dance to it in her wedding dress that had set off the tears...probably a bit of both. Still, it stuck with me”

Dele tried not to think about the fact that they were standing dancing to the same song Eric’s sister and her husband were dancing to at their wedding. He tried not to think about the fact that Eric had asked him to dance to the same song...he really tried not to think about any of it and what it meant.

“What’s it about?”

“Vincent Van Gogh...he was an Artist. You’ve probably seen his work before. He suffered a lot with mental illness when he was alive, thought no one liked his art...or him,” Eric paused. “In the end, he couldn’t take it anymore, he took his own life. He left this world without knowing what impact he left behind him. What impact his art would have on the world and- everytime I hear this song, I think about how he would’ve felt listening to it...knowing how people fell in love with, with his imperfections, his flaws...and I don’t know, it just makes me happy”

“That’s beautiful,”Dele said, whispering the words like they were sacred. 

“It is”

_ Starry, starry night _

_ Portraits hung in empty halls _

_ Frameless heads on nameless walls _

_ With eyes that watch the world and can't forget _

“It’s not a love story, still...it’s romantic in a way, the melody and the message...Maybe that’s why I loved it so much.”

Dele smiled and rested his head on the slightly taller man’s shoulder, their bodies dancing to the tune. His ears slightly more peaked, aware of the meaning behind the lyrics that were sung, aware of how they made Eric feel. Eric rested his cheek against Dele’s head, their bodies pressed together, slow dancing to the rhythm. Their breathing syncing, hearts beating as one. Dele flickered his eyes over to the window, seeing the snow peacefully fall and he wondered to himself whether that was a good enough excuse to stay the night.

“I like the way you talk about things, I could listen to you speak for hours” Dele said, feeling the way Eric’s lips pulled into a smile.

Eric was smart, cultured, more than he’d ever be. He often wondered what had drawn Eric to him in the first place. They shouldn’t have gotten along as well as they had, Eric shouldn’t have taken a liking to him as he did. He was just a boy from Milton Keynes that happened to be quite good at football. Eric, Eric was educated, he spoke multiple languages, and grew up in portugal. He liked art and old music played on record players, he liked to cook and to go to museums in his free time. They shouldn’t have clicked the way they did.

”You do?”

”You know I do”

He’d told him before and he knew there was some sort of admission in it. He knew that it had some underlying subtext behind it,  _ liking the way someone speaks about things, it wasn’t very platonic.  _

“What else do you like about me?” Eric asked, his thumb drawing circles on his hip and Dele was certain Eric could feel the way his heart was beating out of his chest.

“You can’t ask me that” Dele let out a nervous chuckle, now looking at the other man, arms wrapping around Eric’s neck. He was the only person in the world that could make him  _ this _ nervous.

“Why not?”

“I don’t know- it puts me on the spot”

“Okay, I’ll start then…” Eric smiled, eyes flickering over Dele’s face.

“I like the way you play football” 

Dele rolled his eyes and Eric chuckled and continued. “I like your eyes. I like your laugh, the way you smile. I like how silly you are and I like your silly little questions” 

His chest tightened, cheeks flushed. He was blushing again. Eric’s hand came up to cup his cheek, thumb tracing his jawline.

“I like how funny and caring you are. I like how strong you are, how you never give up despite having all the odds against you. I like that you get on with my family and my friends. I like that I can talk to you about stuff I’ve never told anyone else...I like the way you can make anyone in a room instantly fall in love with you”

“There’s only one person that I want falling for me” 

A thick silence that filled the air, like they were both holding their breaths, anticipating the next move. For a second he was afraid he’d overstepped the line if that had been the wrong thing to say, but Eric’s lips pulled into a smile and all the worry left Dele’s body.

“Who’s that?” 

“I think you know who it is,” Dele whispered and Eric’s thumb traced his lower lip.

”I really want to kiss you right now” 

Dele’s heart was racing, unsure whether this was all happening. He’d waited years for this, they’d been close more than once, they’d done other stuff but he’d never felt Eric’s lips against his. Dele of three years ago would’ve freaked out, blamed it on the wine, laughed it off. But not this time, he’d changed, he knew he wanted it. He wanted it and so much more.

”Kiss me then”

Eric leaned in, catching Dele’s lips with his own and for the first time in his life he felt like he’d found somewhere he belonged. Right there, in Eric’s arms.

_ But I could have told you, Vincent _

_ This world was never meant for one _

_ As beautiful as you _

**Author's Note:**

> I recommend everyone to go listen to the song if you haven't!! Vincent by Don McLean, it is one of my all time favorite songs.


End file.
